Kook Jin Nim meets the rebels in Busan -- the meeting begins

November 12, 2011Tongil Foundation

Kook
Jin Nim meets with members of the 36-Couple Blessing earlier this
year.

(This is the second in a series of
notes on Kook Jin Nim's Nov. 10 meeting with six members of the Busan
Unification Church board of elders who have decided to follow the
Kwak group.)

Kook Jin Nim's meeting with a small group including six members of
the Kwak rebellion in Busan began at 5 pm on Thursday, November 10,
in a restaurant in Busan. Kook Jin Nim remained at the meeting until
8 pm, and members of his staff remained until 10 pm, when restaurant
employees finally asked the entire group to leave.

Church headquarters and Tongil Foundation staff accompanying Kook
Jin Nim understood that the meeting was being held because people who
had been exposed by their former minister Jin Tae Choi to Kwak group
propaganda for two years wanted to hear the positions of the
leadership established by True Parents.

The meeting began with an explanation that headquarters expects
True Parents to instruct that all Blessed Couples will need to
receive the blessing at a new and higher level early next year. The
understanding of Church headquarters is that True Parents will not
allow members of the Kwak group to participate in this event. So the
headquarters wanted to give every member ample opportunity to hear
the facts and make their own decision on what path to take.

The first presentation covered improvements and growth of the
Unification Church in Korea over the past few years. A second gave a
briefing on the largely positive coverage in the media during recent
years.

A third presentation began with a briefing on the situation
involving the Yeouido land. But it was interrupted by one of the
rebels. He was reminded that the format agreed before the meeting was
that staff from the Church headquarters and Tongil Foundation would
first lay out their positions and then answer questions. He was
promised that the meeting would not end until he had had a chance to
answer all his questions.

The presentation resumed and got as far as the beginning of True
Father's statements in Kodiak. When the presenter said that Father
asked those he met in Kodiak, "Who are you going to follow –
me or Kwak?", one of the rebels jumped up from his seat and
started shouting and waving a pamphlet he was holding in his hand.

"This pamphlet published by Church headquarters says Father
said 'me or Hyun Jin'. Why are you lying?"

It didn't seem like a distinction worth such an emotional
outburst. The presenter apologized, corrected himself, and tried to
continue with his presentation. But the rebels were not willing to
listen any further.

"I can't stand this anymore," one said. "I head
hurts so much it feels like it's going to split."

"I didn't come here to listen, I came to speak," he
said.

Others among the six also objected to having the presentations
continue.

It seemed odd that they were unwilling to listen to content backed
up with data and coming from the leadership established by True
Parents. But the presenters decided to compromise and let the
questions begin.

It quickly became clear, though, that the rebels did not want to
ask questions. Their purpose was to make speeches insulting and
attacking Kook Jin Nim.

One of the rebels began talking about how the whole situation was
a conflict among brothers and it was shameful that members of the
True Family couldn't get along. It was explained to him that it was,
in fact, not a conflict among brothers. Instead, it was a conflict
between Hyun Jin Nim and True Parents. All members of the True
Family, with the exception of Hyun Jin Nim, are supporting True
Parents.

The man who claimed a headache got up and began yelling and
flailing his arms. It was the first time for me to witness a
Unification Church member behaving so badly in the presence of a
member of the True Family, and I found it extremely disturbing.

"You say your older brother should obey his father, but why
aren't you, as the younger brother, obeying your older brother,"
he said. "You should follow your older brother."
Apparently, to him this sounded like a reasonable argument.

Kook Jin Nim explained that he loved his older brother, but could
not follow him on a course of betrayal against True Parents.

The rebels kept using the phrase, "conflict among brothers".
Each time, Kook Jin Nim explained that it was, in fact, a conflict
between Hyun Jin Nim and True Parents.

"But the media and the public see it as a conflict among
brothers," the rebels insisted.

Well, Kook Jin Nim, that is because the Kwak group has created and
distributed to all the media a press packet presenting the situation
as a conflict among brothers. Presumably, this is their strategy to
conceal the fact that it is, in fact, a situation where Hyun Jin Nim
is in conflict with True Parents. The Kwak group has even hired a
public relations firm to help spread their message.